| Term 1 | Term 1 & 2: Romeo & Juliet – William Shakespeare. | |
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| Pupils will read sections of Romeo and Juliet to consolidate their skills in interpreting and analysing not only Shakespearean English, but also the crafting of a play. As well as exploring the rich language, students will also consider universal themes of love, death, loyalty and revenge. By further delving into Elizabethan society, students can deepen their understanding of how a work of art is rooted in the time, place and space in which it is created; considering which of the issues explored are still relevant today. |
| Assessment: Analysis of an extract from a key scene. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 2 | Term 1 & 2: Voice, Intent, and Perspective | |
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| Year 9 students will consider Voice, Intent and Perspective across this academic year, to understand and compare how texts work to convey different ideas and viewpoints. Students will establish their own viewpoint, understand those of others and how these relate to context of production and reception.
Across the two terms students will read a range of short stories from diverse backgrounds that use a more experimental style than they may have previously experienced. They will learn how narration can be questioned, how authors can surprise the reader, and how language and structural aspects are used to achieve this. |
| Assessment: 1) Marked reading task on a short fictional text.
2) Creative Writing assessment based on a picture stimulus. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 3 & 4: The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time – Mark Haddon | Term 3 & 4: The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time – Mark Haddon | |
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| Pupils will read this unique novel to build their critical reading and analytical skills, whilst also considering a wide range of structural techniques. Through their engagement with a truly unique protagonist students will consider a range of moral questions and societal issues, including societal attitudes to neurodivergency, the difficulties faced by families, and how the best intentions do not always lead to the best outcomes. These synoptic skills are vital for GCSE English literature papers 1 & 2, and are transferable to language content. However, equally importantly, through the atypical writing style, students can continue to engage with multifaceted characters, encouraging reflection on our own preconceptions and prejudices. |
| Assessment: Analytic written response to the whole novel. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 4 | Term 3 & 4: Writer’s craft: Evaluation & transactional writing. | |
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| Students will work with their teachers on annotating a range of fiction and non-fiction extracts, for key ideas that the writer includes to successfully develop a theme, mood or argument. With a critical eye on different approaches, students draw together their knowledge of texts, genres and approaches to confidently evaluate how and why writers have chosen to present their work in these ways.
Also, pupils will develop understanding of how to write non-fiction text types such as letters, speeches, articles, reviews, and travel writing. Students increasingly consider their own purposes, audiences, generic conventions, and overall tone required by "real world" tasks. Drawing on their knowledge of features of different text types, students craft texts that range from the humorous to the powerful, showcasing their writing skills. All of this is underpinned by an explicit focus on utilising different vocabulary, sentence types, and punctuation to augment the power of their ideas. |
| Assessment: 1) Evaluation of a non-fiction text. 2) Transactional writing. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 5 & 6: “Belonging” Anthology Poetry & Comparison skills: revision for end of year assessment. | Term 5 & 6: “Belonging” Anthology Poetry & Comparison skills: revision for end of year assessment. | |
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| Beginning the GCSE content by exploring a range of viewpoints from the new, diverse “Belonging” Anthology, students tackle some “big thoughts: to what extent do any of us belong to a certain place, time or society? How many different versions of any us co-exist at any one time? As well as further improving their comparative analytical skills by exploring the ways in which poets craft and structure their works, students will consider a range of viewpoints, experiences and scenarios. Key skills: Reading and interpreting poetry; analysing and comparing poetic forms, and how they are informed by wider context. To complement this, students will further develop their comparison skills by teasing out the nuances of writers’ craft across a range of non-fiction texts. They will be honing their abilities to interrogate exactly how and why writers are presenting a range of viewpoints and perspectives, and how these choices are supposed to influence us. |
| Assessment: Comparative analytical essays.
End of Year Assessment is an English Language Paper 1: Reading fiction + Creative writing | Key Words and Terms |
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